When looking at the reports on surrogacy and insemination on TV, one could really believe that the French are opposed to these practices.

But a poll shows that the French are totally for both practices. Indeed, the poll by Ifop shows that 53% of French people are in favor of opening the insemination to lesbian couples. Note that this figure has increased by 6 points since January 2013!

55% of the French also favor the use of a surrogate mother, which is totally banned in France. But 59% oppose that it is available to gay couples. The government, through the Prime Minister Manuel Valls, has been opposed to any change in the law regarding surrogacy. Remains to be seen whether the government will agree, however, to take a step to recognize children born to foreign mothers because these children are not considered at present as French. The European Court of Human Rights has also condemned France last June because it does not recognize these children.

Finally, according to the survey, more and more people, 61%, recognized the gay and lesbian couples with children as families.

Supreme Court of Connecticut gives parental rights to a gay couple which used a substitute to give birth to their children. This opens possibilities for all couples using surrogates.

Anthony and Shawn Raftopol get married in 2008 in Massachusetts. With the birth of their twins, Anthony, the biological father, saw his parental rights recognized. However, when they asked the birth certificate, they were told that it did not have any legal claim to the children.

ABC News reports that "the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled this week that Shawn Raftopol, 40, has parenting rights, even though he is not the biological father, because the couple had a valid surrogacy agreement. The court rejected the state’s argument that the co-parent would have to go through a second-parent adoption proceeding in order to be listed on the birth certificates. The decision will have far-reaching ramifications for other couples — gay and straight — who choose to have their children through surrogacy."